1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery pack and a charger. More specifically, the present invention relates to a battery pack which can record data handled by electronic equipment to which it is mounted, and a charger which can operate the data recorded in the battery pack.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, electronic devices such as digital video cameras, portable information devices, and so forth, receive electric power supply necessary for operating from repeatedly-rechargeable batteries (hereafter referred to as a “battery pack”) with a charger so as to enable outdoor use or use away from the home or office. Data recorded by such an electronic device (e.g., image data taken with a digital video camera) is recorded in a memory card or on a recording medium (magnetic tape, disk, or the like) mounted to a recording device which the electronic device has.
As an arrangement for reducing the size of the main unit of the electronic device, a video camera has been proposed wherein a memory card can be inserted to the battery pack, with data being recorded in the memory card mounted on the battery pack (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-78068, p4 and FIG. 1).
However, with a battery pack in which the memory card can be inserted and removed as described above, a memory card insertion/ejection mechanism need to be provided to the battery pack itself, so the configuration is complicated, and accordingly costs more than conventional battery packs. Also, the battery pack and memory card are separate articles, meaning that there may be cases wherein the user forgets to take a memory card, or losses, damages, or ruins the memory card. In short, in addition to costs, this arrangement has problems with regard to handling.
Also, this arrangement is troublesome since data recorded in the memory card mounted on the battery pack can only be read, rewritten, erased (deleted), or the like, by setting the memory card in the battery pack and mounting the battery pack to which the memory card has been set to the electronic device main unit, or removing the memory card from the battery pack and setting the memory card in a separate device capable of reading/writing of the data. That is, playing or displaying of data is troublesome.